FUTUREPROOF PICKS 27-02-25

Hello world,

Here’s your latest FP Picks update .. loads of great new music as always inc trx fm MOSES, Avalanche Party, Flyte & lots more. If you like what you hear please follow and share this playlist, it helps us keep doing our thing by getting the algorithms on our side. Also please support the artists featured in any way you can!

Until next week

Helen (Futureproof) x

MOSES – Skin

London based MOSES are back on the scene! Ever chipping away at the coal face, the band always deliver a killer tune – & such consistency is always a good sign that there’s real talent going on & it’s not just a fleeting moment from some chancers. Under its subdued backing, the tension is held nicely while lead vocalist Victor Moses reminisces about past love with his distinctive vocal style coming to the fore. The band add to that with chant like vocals that lift the mood but the solo is where their flare really comes alive. Touches of The Edge are tucked in there at points but so what… rock music is ideally about abandonment of the ego & losing yourself in the moment no? Just imagine this playing out at a mid-summer festival stage and you’ve got me. Apparently there’s another album on the way for the autumn, which I’m sure will be melodic, hooky & brimming over with passion just like all their stuff – can’t wait!

Ezra Furman – Grand Mal

Chicago’s singer-songwriter Ezra Furman has shared cinematic new single Grand Mal, taken from the upcoming album Goodbye Small Head. Furman describes the new album as “an orchestral emo prog-rock record sprinkled with samples”. Album opener Grand Mal, named after the outdated term for a major seizure, and its following companion Sudden Storm were written in one hypomanic sitting after talking to an epileptic friend about the mystical quality of certain epileptic seizures. “Goodbye Small Head is a lyric from the 1999 Sleater-Kinney single Get Up, a phrase breathlessly, almost ecstatically intoned by Corin Tucker as she contemplates death and the dissolution of the self .. That’s what this kind of music offers us: a look over the edge into the frightening and beautiful realm that lies beyond ordinary life. Have a look with me, won’t you?”

Avalanche Party – Ecstasy

Yorkshire’s garage-punk outfit Avalanche Party have dropped heartfelt new single Ecstasy, taken from their new album Der Traum Über Alles. It’s an intense track that builds up slowly, but surely. Ecstasy starts off minimally in an almost eerie manner with chugging guitar rhythms and commanding vocals. The rest of the track is hectic with both soaring vocals and synth used alongside thrashing guitars and drums. With solid guitars and expressive vocals, the track retains the band’s heavy sound while introducing a romantic, warm softness. The band state: “Ecstasy was the first song I wrote using Ostrich tuning, but we had to build a guitar to be able to play it right, separate inputs for separate amps and effects between the octaves. Without that the rhythm and melody was too muddy, the new guitar made it work. The lyrical narrative wrote itself. It’s a nice story.” Infectious, powerful, euphoric with great lyrics – what’s not to like?!

The Bracknall – Falling Out Of View

The Bracknall have shared their new album Falling Out Of View and we give you the powerful title track. Their towering anthems and pulsating energy are fuelled by their ever-more accomplished musicianship, while themes of unity and brotherhood provide an uplifting antidote to a time dominated by divisive attitudes. Its potential was realised with the help of heavyweight production from Chris Marshall (Gerry Cinnamon, Dylan John Thomas) during sessions at Mogwai’s Castle of Doom Studios in Glasgow. Vocalist / guitarist Jack Dacey says, “We cannot wait to get out and play this record live and fucking loud. Leave your troubles at the door. Rock and roll will save us all.” Utterly banging!

The WAEVE – Love Is All Pain

The WAEVE recently dropped their anti-valentine’s single Love Is All Pain, taken from the upcoming EP Eternal. “Oh! Love is all pain / Thought I’d escaped it / But I need it again / It’s hard, it’s hard / It’s harder than hell,” sing the duo – comprised of Blur guitarist Graham Coxon and The Pipettes member Rose Elinor Dougall – in the chorus, describing the realities of love over throbbing electro synths. Directed by Simon Leeder, the song’s accompanying music video was shot entirely on black & white 8mm film in a nod to the post-punk synth-era aesthetic of the late 1980s. It captures The WAEVE on location around Southmere Lake at Thamesmead, South East London’s iconic Brutalist estate.

Michigander – Emotional

Michigander (aka Jason Singer) dropped the heartfelt single Emotional a while back from his recently released self-titled Michigander album. “Emotional was one of the first songs Jeremy Lutito (who produced the whole record) and I wrote together.” says Singer. “He had that synth bass and drum beat idea that sort of goes throughout the entire song. The song is about trying to progress as a human in spite of being human. I think most people are just trying their best, and that’s all we can really do.” Of the album, he states: “Everything built up to this point though. To make an analogy, the EPs were like television episodes of my story, and the album is the movie version. It’s blown up on the big screen. I’m just getting started, but this is my introduction to the world.”

Scrounge – UTG

South London punk duo Scrounge celebrate trans and queer communities on intimate new single UTG. “As a queer person, it feels as though you never stop coming out; you’re always protective of that tiny bit of yourself that makes you ‘different’. This song is a reminder to look after and respect your queer and trans mates who are often not given the dignity and respect they deserve,” Lucy Alexander explains. Strong and poweful vocals demand “Tell me what’s the worst thing we could do?” There is a quiet defiance here, the vocal dominating the track as it should, layered over the guitars and drums which provide the foundations for the vocal to proudly lead the song.

The Roebucks – Great British Pig

Brighton quartet The Roebucks are back with their haunting new single Great British Pig. A reflection on Veganism, the hypocrisies of nationalist British Identity, as well as an expression of appreciation towards our swine friends, the track proudly stands as the band’s most emotionally ‘meaty’ cut to date, as they explain: “Great British Pig is a bit of an anti-meat song but more of a pro-pig song. Hopefully made less like a preach by the cartoonish words. It was written around the idea of Britain being the ‘land of hope and glory’- what’s paradise to some is a hell for others. We wanted a heavy, trudgy sound from the drums, bass and rhythm guitar alongside a piercing, distorted lead slide guitar. We like it sounding like a very large pig trudging through the mud.” Loving this blues-soaked, alt-country anthem.

Flyte – I’m Not There

Flyte (Will Taylor and Nick Hill) are back with their emotional new single I’m Not There, exploring personal trauma and self-forgiveness and recorded with BRIT Award-winning producer Ethan Johns. Taylor explains: “I’m Not There was captured in a single live take at the beginning of the album recording sessions. Although regular therapy and the ever-enlightening practice of songwriting has helped me immensely over the years, a lack of self-love, self-forgiveness, and the baggage of family trauma still hangs around – sometimes heavily. This song was written under a particularly dense cloud, with a rainy brain. I was draining my subconscious, not present in the slightest. From the few times we’ve played this song live, it’s been noteworthy how male leaning people of all ages have been quick to tell us about their immediate connection to it – make of that what you will.” A heartwarming, beautiful track.